Invitation to Dinner

At their first meeting, Yue Xiaodan had been full of hope that Xu Rui would make a good impression and treat her to a nice meal, leaving a favorable impression of himself in her heart.

Who would have thought that this guy was so used to being stingy that he took them straight to a street stall in the snack street and ordered three bowls of Spicy Hot Noodles? Yue Xiaodan was stunned.

She had not dated many times, but Xu Rui was the first man she had truly seen for herself. Yue Xiaodan had already found his looks unappealing, and now her dislike for him only grew stronger.

Li Yang could not remind him in front of Yue Xiaodan. It was fine for the guy to penny-pinch in everyday life, but he did not even take his own lifelong happiness seriously. Li Yang was honestly speechless.

Seeing the boredom already written all over Yue Xiaodan's face, Li Yang could not help worrying for him.

They had only ordered three bowls of Spicy Hot Noodles and nothing else. Yue Xiaodan figured she might as well just make do with it.

Xu Rui disregarded his image and finished his food in a few bites, then casually wiped the grease from his mouth with his hand.

Yue Xiaodan was completely speechless inside. What kind of person was this?

"I'm going to the restroom. You two take your time eating." With that, Xu Rui slipped away.

Li Yang felt it was inappropriate. For the sake of his buddy's lifelong happiness, he got up and bought a few extra side dishes and three bottles of soda. If he bought only two, Xu Rui might find it odd when he came back. If he did not get Xu Rui one, the guy would definitely have thoughts about it.

Seeing Li Yang's considerate gesture, Yue Xiaodan immediately smiled gently, and the way she looked at him changed slightly.

"Thank you, Li Yang." Seeing that Li Yang had bought her more food, Xiaodan could not help feeling genuinely favorable toward him.

"It's nothing. Don't take it to heart. He's been like this since he was little. He's used to being frugal. But if you two end up living together, you'll find his good points."

Those words stirred Xiaodan's thoughts again. She had never planned to find someone rich and powerful as a marriage partner.

What she really wanted was an honest, dependable man without too many schemes. Xu Rui actually fit that description quite well.

Yue Xiaodan's home was in Luoning County, and she had a younger brother. Growing up under her parents' preference for sons over daughters, it was easy to imagine that Yue Xiaodan's childhood had not been very happy.

After graduating from middle school, her parents had originally not intended to let her continue studying. After she begged them bitterly, she attended technical school for a few more years. Although she never used what she studied,

it still changed Yue Xiaodan's way of thinking considerably. From that moment on, she decided that when looking for someone to marry, she had to be in charge of the household. She did not care about anything else, as long as the other person could agree to that.

"Then do you think we have a chance?" Xiaodan drank a bottle of soda and asked Li Yang in the tone of an old friend.

Xiaodan did not know why, but even though it was her first time meeting Li Yang, she did not feel any unfamiliarity or discomfort around him.

"That depends on you. It wouldn't be right for me to decide your future for you, would it?"

Li Yang tossed the choice back to Yue Xiaodan.

"Then let's see. We can get to know each other first."

Yue Xiaodan relaxed, and her irritation faded. She would take things slowly.

Just then, Xu Rui came back. Yue Xiaodan signaled Li Yang with her eyes, and the two immediately went back to acting unfamiliar with each other.

"Here, Xiaodan treated us to this." Li Yang picked up the bottle of soda he had saved for Xu Rui and handed it to him.

After hearing that, Xiaodan glanced at Li Yang casually, her eyes conveying her thanks.

She had not expected Li Yang to be so tactful. He had handled it perfectly. If Xu Rui found out Li Yang had bought it, it might seem like Li Yang was stealing the spotlight.

It might also make Xu Rui think Li Yang was trying to please Xiaodan and competing with him for a woman.

Li Yang was not that stupid. Having grown up together, he knew Xu Rui's temperament better than anyone.

After they finished eating, it was still early. Li Yang suggested taking another stroll, and the three of them went wandering around the mall.

After a while, Li Yang said he needed to use the restroom. Yue Xiaodan happened to need to go as well, so she said she did not know where it was and followed Li Yang to look for it.

"Li Yang, give me your number." Only after Xu Rui was out of sight did Xiaodan quickly ask Li Yang.

Li Yang did not think much of it and gave her his number. Yue Xiaodan called it, let it ring once, then hung up.

"I'll contact you if anything comes up." Yue Xiaodan smiled with a distinctly feminine charm.

"No problem," Li Yang replied readily.

When they reached the restroom entrance, they went in separately.

There was no need to guess that Li Yang came out first. Women had never been fast at this sort of thing.

When Xiaodan came out and saw Li Yang still waiting for her, she could not help feeling pleasantly surprised.

To be honest, she wanted to have a proper heart-to-heart with Li Yang. Judging from what had just happened, Li Yang seemed more worthy of entrusting her life to.

Now that she had his number, there was nothing to worry about. She could ask him out when she had time.

With that thought, Xiaodan happily went with Li Yang to meet up with Xu Rui.

Around eight o'clock, Xiaodan suggested that the two of them head back early. After all, she lived in a nearby Urban Village.

She did not need to rush, but Li Yang and Xu Rui had to catch the Route 50 Bus. If they were too late, there would be no more buses.

In the end, at Li Yang's suggestion, the two men escorted Xiaodan all the way back to her rented room before saying goodbye and leaving.

Xiaodan stood politely at the roadside, watching Li Yang's departing figure with a thoughtful expression.

Just like that, Yue Xiaodan gave Xu Rui her answer the next day. If he had no objections to her, they could try seeing each other first. Xu Rui was also full of anticipation. In his eyes, it would be wonderful if Yue Xiaodan agreed to marry him.

Li Yang and Xu Rui returned to their usual routine, taking the bus to the hospital first, then riding their bicycles home.

Xu Rui had an electric motorcycle. To save on electricity, the guy basically left it at home every day and could not bear to use it. He was keeping it for when he got a girlfriend so it would be convenient to pick her up and drop her off. Li Yang had to admit that the guy had thought things through.

Before they knew it, May Day Labor Day had arrived. Working at a mall meant there were no holidays all year round. Not only did they not get time off, but they were even more exhausted than usual.

That was because malls launched promotional events during holidays, a common practice in the service industry.

After nearly two months at Jiamei Appliances, Li Yang had adjusted to this line of work, which he had never done before.

There was not much hard labor to do every day, and the day drifted by until work ended. Other than suffering a bit during holidays, Li Yang quite liked the job.

He also had fun chatting with Zhang Nini and Liu Yueyue every day. Although both girls had boyfriends, they were lively and cheerful. With them around, Li Yang was not so bored every day.

The older employees looked down somewhat on the three newcomers. Aside from their normal work, they barely had any emotional interaction with them.

Li Yang did not care. He was not lacking friends, and he had adapted well to his daily life.

On May Day, the store manager had all employees gather at the store at eight in the morning. What followed was the assignment of May Day sales targets to each product department.

The Refrigerator and Washing Machine Department, Air Conditioner Department, and Color TV Department were the leading departments in the appliance business. Most of the target completion depended on those three departments. As part of one of them, Li Yang found it rather troublesome, but it was not yet the rookies' turn to shoulder that burden.

The veteran employees and manufacturer salespeople carried the responsibility. Even if the targets were not met, no one would blame Li Yang.

After the store manager arranged the work, he announced that the meeting was over and everyone went about their own business.

"Li Yang, you three go downstairs and draw in customers. Take some promotional flyers with you and focus on explaining the discounts from our Refrigerator and Washing Machine Department. Don't worry about anything else."

As soon as Supervisor Zhao Tiantian returned to the department, she assigned Li Yang and the others their task.

There was no need for them to stay in the store to receive customers anyway. It was better to let them go out and make use of themselves, and everyone was content with that arrangement.

Li Yang then went downstairs with the two girls, carrying flyers.

During the May Day holiday, most workplaces had several days off. The Pedestrian Street plaza was packed with people, with several times more foot traffic than usual. Young people were everywhere, shopping, dating, eating, and strolling around. It was incredibly lively.

The arcade next door was also running promotions. Its employees were all young women, dressed very attractively in matching tailored uniforms that made their figures look even more graceful and alluring.

Li Yang was bored and casually looked at one of the girls. He immediately perked up. He had probably not seen this girl before. She was of average height, neither too thin nor too fat, and the curves of her full chest and rounded hips looked especially enticing beneath her fitted uniform.

"Miss, take a look at our promotional offers. If you need anything, come check us out." Li Yang boldly walked up and struck up a conversation.

"Sure. Then you should take a look at ours too." The girl responded warmly with a professional smile.

"How about this? Let's exchange numbers. If either of us needs something, we can get in touch." Li Yang smiled and revealed his true purpose.

"No problem." The girl readily pulled out her phone from the back pocket of her jeans.

Li Yang had never understood it. When he was bored, he had observed that men always kept their phones in their front pockets, while women all put them in their back pockets. It was not safe and made them easy targets for pickpockets.

Yue Xiaodan had finally explained this question that had troubled him for so long during one of their conversations. Because men and women had different body structures, women felt uncomfortable from friction if they put phones in their front pockets.

Yue Xiaodan's half-veiled explanation had completely solved the great mystery in Li Yang's heart.

So that's why. No wonder. Li Yang immediately understood.

The girl introduced herself as Ren Xiaoxiao. She chatted with Li Yang for a while before another coworker called her away. Customers had come into the arcade, and she needed to go back to attend to them.

Li Yang then said goodbye to Ren Xiaoxiao and went elsewhere to hand out flyers.

May's weather had begun to carry a hint of heat. Women who loved dressing up had already changed into the short skirts and stockings they had been longing to wear, walking confidently and sexily through the streets. It gave plenty of benefits to men as well, and idle punks wandering around to look at beautiful women could be seen everywhere.

At that moment, Yue Xiaodan was also diligently promoting a huge sale on women's clothing outside her store.

A white blouse paired with a black skirt suit gave her a charmingly feminine air.

Li Yang had ignored his supervisor's instructions and wandered around with flyers in hand. From afar, he spotted Yue Xiaodan standing there busily working, and his heart stirred.

He went to the supermarket beside them, bought a bottle of iced black tea, and walked over.

"Hello." Li Yang greeted Yue Xiaodan with a handsome expression. Seeing the fine beads of sweat on her forehead, he quickly handed it to her.

"Drink it. Our store handed these out. We have plenty." Li Yang did not want her to know that he had bought it specifically for her, so he casually made up an excuse.

Yue Xiaodan felt a warmth in her heart, but she did not expose Li Yang's thoughts. She had seen him earlier and had not expected him to personally buy her a drink.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony." Xiaodan opened it and took a large gulp, then unexpectedly held it up to Li Yang's mouth.

"You have some too. It's pretty hot today. Don't go buy another bottle later; that would be a waste. I can't finish it anyway. Just don't mind that I drank from it. I had my physical less than a month ago."

Yue Xiaodan interacted with Li Yang like an old friend. Her casual, relaxed manner made Li Yang relax as well, and he no longer felt that stiffness strangers had around each other.

"Let's have lunch together." Yue Xiaodan smiled and directly invited him.

"Sure. Contact me then, and I'll see whether the timing works for you."

"Then it's a deal. Don't stand me up." Yue Xiaodan rarely acted coy. Around Li Yang, she enjoyed this feeling of freedom and ease. She did not need to pretend or wear a mask while talking to him.

"Hurry and drink." Xiaodan directly gave Li Yang a sip, then took another sip herself and screwed the cap back on.

"Then I won't be polite. Bye-bye." Xiaodan waved the nearly empty drink in her hand, gave Li Yang a captivating smile, then turned and returned to her store.

Li Yang shook his head too. He had figured it out himself: Yue Xiaodan clearly was not his type, yet there was always some indescribable charm about her that drew his attention every time.

He also always wanted to spend time with her. It was not a fascination with Yue Xiaodan's body, either. Compared to her figure, Hui Hui and Li Meijiao were far more attractive.

Yue Xiaodan was thin as dry firewood, with no extra flesh on her face. Sometimes Li Yang thought that if he lay on top of Yue Xiaodan, her bones would probably jab him painfully.

By noon, Yue Xiaodan called Li Yang and asked him to meet her at the entrance of her store.

As soon as he reached the store entrance, Yue Xiaodan came out.

"Let's go eat." Yue Xiaodan said it with the same smile.

She seemed to be a fairly optimistic person. Li Yang did not know where they were going to eat, so he simply followed behind her. The sound of Yue Xiaodan's black high heels tapping against the ground echoed continuously in his ears.

"Isn't it tiring to wear high heels every day?" Li Yang could not help asking as he looked at her small feet.

"No choice. My height is a weakness. Wearing them gives me a little confidence." Yue Xiaodan teased in reply.

She was indeed rather short, apparently not even one meter sixty barefoot. Combined with her skinny frame, it looked somewhat unbalanced. But after Yue Xiaodan put on high heels, she and Li Yang, who was one meter seventy-three, were barely a good match.

The two soon walked into the Urban Village.

"Are you going home?" Li Yang asked doubtfully.

"Yes. Don't you want to eat food I cooked myself?" Xiaodan looked at Li Yang walking beside her, her eyes shining.

"Of course I do," Li Yang answered without hesitation.

Then the two returned to her rented room.

Yue Xiaodan rented a single room on the top floor, the third floor, of her landlord's house. There was a wide corridor outside the room, with just enough space for a gas stove so she could cook over a flame.